at 18:30 (JST), October 27

Asian View
"Asian View" is a five-minute news segment broadcast by NHK WORLD-JAPAN. It features the latest news and deep analysis from Japan and the rest of Asia. Listen to "Asian View" and get the latest information from a region that's playing an increasingly important role in the world.





https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20231027183000_english_1.mp3


Key words : former heart attack
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20231027_11/

China's former premier Li Keqiang died early on Friday at the age of 68, according to state media.

China Central Television says Li had a heart attack and died shortly after midnight in Shanghai after all rescue measures failed.

Li started his political career in the Communist Youth League of China, the ruling Communist Party's youth organization. In 1999, he took charge of the province of Henan, becoming China's youngest provincial governor.

After serving as the party secretary of Liaoning Province, Li was elected in 2007 as a member of the party's Politburo Standing Committee. He joined the Committee at the same time as the current President Xi Jinping. They both achieved unprecedented rapid promotion.

Li assumed the post of premier in 2013 and served for two terms. He stepped down in March this year due to the expiration of his term under a constitutional provision.

Key words : country garden
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20231026_36/

Another major Chinese real estate developer has been deemed to be in default. The Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee says that Country Garden has failed to meet its repayment obligations on some of its dollar-denominated bonds.

This comes after China's Evergrande Group defaulted on its massive debts although it has not gone bankrupt.

The recent defaults highlight a slump in China's real estate sector and could fuel concerns about the outlook for the country's economy.

Key words : south supreme comfort
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20231026_19/

South Korea's Supreme Court has ordered a retrial of a case in which a university professor was found guilty of defaming people referred to as comfort women in a book.

The top court on Thursday sent the case against Sejong University Professor Park Yu-ha back to a high court for retrial. It said what she wrote in the book should be viewed as an academic argument.

Prosecutors indicted Park in 2015 for defaming the women in her book "Comfort Women of the Empire," published in 2013.

In the book, Park writes that the relationship between some women and Imperial Japanese forces was akin to that of "comrades" and that some of them voluntarily became comfort women.

A district court acquitted her in 2017, saying the expression "comrades" is abstract and figurative and merely presents an opinion.

But later that year, a high court found her guilty and ordered her to pay a fine of 10 million won, or about 7,400 dollars. It said she defamed the women through writing that was incorrect and different from objective facts. Both the prosecutors and Park appealed.

In Thursday's ruling, the Supreme Court said it is reasonable to assess the expressions in the book as stating the author's academic claims and opinions. It ordered a retrial.

Park told reporters after the ruling that her book also includes ways to solve the comfort women issue. She said she hopes the Supreme Court ruling will lead to more people learning the facts.

Key words : sending finding
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20231027_02/

NHK has learned Japan is sending a fact-finding team to Lebanon on Friday in case Japanese Self-Defense Force personnel need to evacuate their compatriots from the country by air.

Sources say the team from the Defense Ministry will collect information and coordinate with Lebanese authorities in preparation for any potential evacuation.

Three SDF aircraft have already been dispatched to evacuate Japanese nationals from Israel.

Fighting between the Israeli military and the Shia militant group Hezbollah is continuing in border areas between Israel and Lebanon, causing civilian casualties. It erupted amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.

Japan's Foreign Ministry is urging Japanese in Lebanon's border areas with Israel to evacuate immediately while ensuring their safety. It is also calling on Japanese in other parts of Lebanon to consider leaving.

Last Friday, the ministry raised its danger alert for Lebanon's border areas with Israel to the highest level of 4 and, for other parts of Lebanon, to Level 3.

The ministry says that as of October last year, 74 Japanese were staying in Lebanon.

Key words : south sudan
#N/Ahttps://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/videos/20230922161036235/

Chasing soccer dreams far from home

The East African country of South Sudan has little in the way of sports infrastructure, due to its long-lasting civil war and continuing political instability. But since May, two young soccer players from the country have been training in the city of Maebashi, north of Tokyo, as part of a program of sports exchanges.